Chapter 31 : False Accusation (5) Part-1

As soon as I regained my senses, what entered my sight was a mass of magical energy flying toward me.

A huge one, the same one that had caused me pain countless times.

It was instinct that made me reach my hand toward it.

I didn’t want to hurt anymore.

Today had already been too painful.

I didn’t understand why I had to endure more pain here.

I just wanted to give up and fall asleep.

And never wake up again.

But even then, at the same time, there was lingering attachment.

In both my past life and this life, I had always been indecisive.

I couldn’t even set a goal in life, and while I thought I wanted to be good, I had never truly been good.

I knew what Noir Corporation did, yet I still worked there.

The donations might have been a form of self-soothing.

I only looked up, envious of those better than me, wanting desperately to be there, and in the end, I chose that path.

Perhaps, I was only fooling myself, telling myself that this wasn’t for me, but for others.

Did I deserve punishment?

Since I’ve done something wrong, is it right for me to be punished?

The Galactic Federation and the government of this country are beings you can’t easily touch, so if I stay quiet, I won’t be punished.

So was this the right way to atone?

No, I don’t want that.

Even though I’ve lived this way, I didn’t want to experience pain.

I wanted to escape from the criticism.

I always thought I wanted to quit, but I couldn’t bring myself to give up on life.

I didn’t want to.

I didn’t want to…

For some reason, that white sphere didn’t reach me.

It was only now that I realized something was distorting my surroundings.

Could it be that black substance that always appeared when I pushed the circuits to their limits?

I could see outside from within, but I wasn’t sure how they were perceiving me from the outside.

Magic continued to fly toward me. Some big, some small.

People were fleeing.

The sound of helicopters grew distant.

Ah, did they take a picture? Well, that makes sense. I’m floating so high up.

The surroundings, which had appeared faintly, gradually shrank into darkness.

The magical energy, which I could only sense before, slowly began to take form.

My outstretched arm retracted.

The magical energy gradually began to press against my crouched body.

Huh, now that I think about it, why am I doing this?

I was clearly lying on the ground just a moment ago.

There had been thick iron wires piled on top of me, heavy enough that I could hardly move.

Had I lost consciousness?

It didn’t really matter.

I was too tired to think or move.

I was hungry.

I just wanted to collapse and sleep.

The circuits near my ears still emitted a dangerous sound as I curled up.

The circuits were hot, but they couldn’t hurt me.

My body was firmly wrapped in magical energy.

As if it were trying to crush me.

Like rubber tightly coiled around copper wires, the magical energy tightly wrapped around my body, leaving me unable to even struggle.

Before I could understand the situation, my vision suddenly brightened.

I saw headlights shining toward me.

The world was upside down.

The black magical energy that had been pressing against me slowly, slowly began to peel away.

My clothes had changed.

It wasn’t a tattered patient gown, its meaning almost gone, but rather a fluttering dress that looked like something a magical girl would wear.

It was a dark-colored dress with a black base and an overall somber look.

Haha…

How strange.

I was wearing a magical girl’s outfit.

The sound of my laughter probably didn’t reach anyone.

I didn’t have enough strength left to laugh sincerely.

I found my balance in the air and raised my body.

Light beams flew toward me, but they didn’t reach me at all.

I could see below.

Hayoon was there.

I was in pain, and my vision was blurry, so I could barely make out her silhouette.

Hayoon, and behind her, Rose.

It looked like Hayoon was standing protectively around Rose.

No, maybe their positions were different.

But right now, I didn’t have the strength to judge that.

People below were moving in a flurry.

The soldiers, once gathered like ants, were now scrambling to flee.

What did I even do?

It was the same as last time.

Even though I hadn’t done anything, I was being treated as a danger.

Did I… hurt the magical girls that much? There were probably far more injured soldiers in those delicate hands.

I must have gotten hurt much more often than they did.

The people fleeing over there… they must have hit me a lot more than I’ve been hit.

But maybe it doesn’t matter.

After all, by tomorrow, I’ll probably be a real terrorist.

I didn’t want to worry about that.

For now, I just wanted to sleep.

The magical girls below were preparing something, but I had no intention of facing them.

What should I do?

I just wanted to run away.

As if responding to my thoughts, the magical energy moved.

I couldn’t tell exactly what happened behind me.

All I knew was that it had sucked in everything around me and myself.

Though it was probably just dust and air.

At least, the world I saw with my eyes had completely changed.

I had succeeded in leaving the place.

*

A safe place.

Yes, to rest, I needed a safe place.

So, where is a safe place for me right now?

The orphanage was the first place the police would go.

Hayoon didn’t know where I lived, and the kids at school didn’t know either, but the police could easily find out.

I had resisted arrest, fled, and even fought against magical girls, causing multiple injuries.

It would be strange if there were no police at the orphanage.

Hayoon’s house? Of course, that’s out of the question.

Her parents work as mediators between the Galactic Federation and the government.

In the worst case, I might even get involved with them.

…But, in this world, those two places were the only ones I could consider safe.

Hayoon’s house wasn’t safe because it was a house, but because I trusted Hayoon.

As a result, after debating between the two places, I ended up taking a third path.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw wasn’t the white, clean ceiling of a hospital.

It was a room that looked somewhat stained, with traces of black mold growing in the corner.

I blinked a few times, then slowly propped myself up.

It was much better than when I was in the hospital, but there were still many places that hurt.

At least the new wounds had disappeared.

Had someone taken me to a clinic or something?

Did I collapse on the street? If someone brought me here, treated me, and protected me…

Was there still no warrant out for me?

As I thought about this, I realized with a start that the circuit on my left wrist was missing.

In a panic, I quickly looked around, and saw the circuit neatly discarded next to the blanket on the floor.

As for my clothes…

They were gone.

This was enough to make my face turn pale.

If someone had treated my body and cleaned me up, but my clothes were gone…

It was all over.

I quickly tried to get up, thinking that I might not have been brought here out of simple goodwill, but I groaned through the pain.

I was feeling a bit better, but there was still pain all over my body.

My muscles and joints were screaming.

Then again, it was absurd to expect to feel better right after all that struggle.

I managed to lift my upper body and looked around.

The room seemed vaguely familiar, though I wasn’t sure.

Was this the place I last thought of yesterday?

I was certain I must have hoped for somewhere safe.

Lost in those thoughts, I heard a creaking sound from the narrow room’s entrance.

It was the sound of a key turning in the doorknob.

Click. With a slight squeak, the door slowly began to open.

On the other side…

There are very few people I can rely on in this world.

Of course, I couldn’t exactly say I could rely on Jiguppa, but out of the people I knew and who knew where I lived, Jiguppa was the only one who lived alone.

I had memories of that guy, drunk on caffeine and stumbling, bringing me here several times.

“Don’t move too much. You were pretty hurt when I saw you yesterday. Your wounds healed strangely fast, though.”

Jiguppa said that while rustling a plastic bag in her right hand as she entered the room.

This wasn’t a room I hadn’t seen before, but I’d hardly ever entered and left it.

There was that one time when I dragged a Jiguppa who looked like she was about to throw up straight to the bathroom and shoved him in front of the toilet.

It seems Jiguppa hasn’t reported me yet.

“Why…?”

“Why are you here? That’s what I’d like to ask!”

Jiguppa said it as if she found it absurd, then walked over to me and sat cross-legged on the blanket.

Then she pulled something out of the black plastic bag…

Tangerines and a drink.

Cup noodles, coffee…

“I bought all this at the store nearby. Especially fruits, you can get them pretty cheap by season. The owner’s auntie owns a farm in the countryside or something.”

Jiguppa was saying that, but I could barely hold back my saliva.

Grrr… My stomach growled.